Joe Ely

Click on image for more photos ...

We have tickets to see Joe Ely at Gruene Hall on Saturday night. We have seen him here before back in 2018 and wanted to catch him again. Gruene is an hour or so south off the IH35 just north of San Antonio. We had been to Gruene earlier on this trip for a sunny afternoon to see Bill Kirchen at the hall. Over the years we've been to Gruene many times.

Joe, for those who don't know him, is one of the founding members of the Flatlanders (they're "More a Legend than a Band") from Lubbock with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Each has a solo career and are all important Texas artists in their own right. All three are folk we really want to see when we get a chance.

When we arrived early for a 9:00 show we could see there was a long line waiting to get in — that's not what we're looking for. We might have abandoned the show entirely while looking for parking but found something reasonable in that huge field that has been commandeered to meet the needs of folks like us. I wait at the end of the line and meet up with Kate who is resting at the curb near the front of the line. There are a lot of folk ahead of us and getting a good seat looks increasingly difficult.

Inside Gruene hall all the tables and benches have been removed. It's going to be a standing room only event — they've even removed the table and chairs from the bar area at the front of the hall. There remains an attached bench they can't easily remove around the outside of the dance floor (Ok, it's not a dance floor tonight, it's a standing room only floor) and a couple of pool tables to stage right. All the benches are filled and we plunk ourselves on the pool table grateful to have any place to sit. Already the area in front of the stage has filled with taller folk who will get a good view of the show.

The opening act is an emotive performer from Kerrville, whose act runs under the moniker "Possessed by Paul James". He's a 40-something teacher and apparently the name has something to do with his great grandfather. He's very expressive, wild, sweaty and plays several instruments. I find him interesting, Kate not so much. So we're outside in the patio area for some of the show having left our jackets on the pool table. In the patio area there's a new clean and sturdy outdoor washroom. The men's room behind the stage is something to avoid so this is a step forward.

When Joe Ely came on at 10:00 the house was packed. He started with Fingernails (I keep my fingernails long so they click when I play the piano) and by the time he gets to Butch Hancock's Bluebird (If you were a bluebird, you'd be a sad one) Kate returns from her nap in the car. It was a good show with a very tight band -- these guys have been playing together for years. Llloyd Maines (also from Lubbock, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks is his daughter) was there on steel guitar and received all sorts of cheers just for walking onto the stage and sitting down at his instrument. I recognize the bass and lead guitarists but can't tell you their names (see Postscript below).

This show is, apparently, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of "Live Shots" (a live album from the time when he toured England with the Clash) but it seemed to me to be the usual Joe Ely concert drawing on all his material over the years. I recall hearing Fingernail and Bluebird (as already noted), Honky Tonk Masquerade, Dallas from a DC9. Spanish is the Loving Tongue, Crazy Lemon, Honky Tonkin', I Had My Hopes Up High and more. Someone far in the back kept yelling out Cool Rockin' Loreta — not sure he ever did that.

The music they were playing before the show was a mix of punk and country. Sort of a tip of the hat to the music of 40 years ago.

The Joe Ely band was very good and Joe was at his best. The venue, however, was way over crowded — we tired and left early. If you're not young and able to stand for hours cheek to jowl with hundreds of others this would have been no fun. If you're not lucky enough to command some space in front of the stage you won't get to see much — especially if you're short! I really wish they'd charge twice as much and admit half as many people.

I loved seeing Joe Ely but have seen him in less stressed environments. I don't think I'll be coming back to see performers like Joe who command a big audience in Gruene Hall ever again. We're too old for these standing room only gigs.

A Postscript (on the occasion of Joe's birthday in February of 2023)

Cindy Light, on the Joe Ely Facebook page, posted a video of Fingernails from this concert and commented on this blog entry which I had shared. She writes that "it was especially packed that night. I’ve actually always enjoyed sitting outside when it gets to be too much. Anyway - the bass player was / is Jimmy Pettit! 😁And David Holt on guitar." 

Michaela Anne

Click on image for more photos ...

Michaela Anne is a young Nashville based artist I've been following and she has a gig tonight (Friday) at the Cactus Cafe on the UTX campus. We had tickets to see her here at the Cactus Cafe back in 2016 with Carson McHone as the front act -- we weren't able to stay to see her that time so I'm pretty keen to see her this time.

Before the show Kate and I watched for the bats at the Congress Bridge and actually saw a few. It's been a warm month and the bats have returned, perhaps earlier than usual. I took Kate home afterwards and went to the concert on my own. Uber seems to have become quite expensive for the times we want to use it and I ended up driving to the show and parking on a side street. Parking in the university area is a nightmare, but there are some parking buildings.

We've been to the Cactus Cafe lots of times over the years. It's a good listening room in the Student Union Building on the University of Texas Campus. It's on Guadalupe in an area that used to be pretty active called "The Drag" -- there used to be a really great Tower Records store (remember records?). These days the area is pretty quiet and the club caters more to folks like us than the more youthful univeristy crowd.

There is a front act, a fellow from Austin who was pretty entertaining but unfortunately I didn't catch the name.

In talking to people in the queue to get in there are some who have seen her before. They tell me it promises to be a good show. I gather she stops in once a year or so -- she may have family in the area. It wasn't a well attended show -- the house was arranged with tables and chairs with perhaps 50 in attendance. For acts that get a good house they get rid of the tables and set the chairs out in rows to seat 100 or more.  That doesn't bode well.

I bump into her outside at the break on my way to the men's room (she's probably changed in the women's room). She is a tiny wee thing but has a great voice and has written some very good tunes. She has a full band with her on this tour to promote her latest CD who, like her, are all very young. A drummer who is very busy setting things up for her (he's creditted as being the "band leader"). A young fellow with a short beard on electric guitar. A "red dirt" fellow with a long beard on bass who sings some harmonies. A young woman on keyboards, electric guitar and harmonies. And Michaela on acoustic, sometimes electric, who has written all these tunes. Together they're a very tight band delivering studio quality performances.

They have some fairly complex music that requires the full band. But, at other times they play simple honky tonk and country. At the end of the show they all come off the stage into the audience and sang together with her on acoustic guitar. A nice way to close the show.

I have been listening to her music on Spotify for a few years now (since before 2016 when we had tried to see her) and took the opportunity to buy her 3 CD's at the "merch table". I now have physical copies of Desert Dove (2019), Bright Lights and Fame (2016) and Ease My Mind (2014). For completeists try To Know Where (2011) which I suspect is out of print. I'm pleased to have these three most recents CD's.... Kate discovered when we got home to Ontario that I had already picked up "Desert Dove" at Waterloo Records! Ok, well I guess there's another one for Mike's Christmas package.

If you're interested in her music take a peak at her albums on Spotify or her channel on YouTube. For her influences try her Spotify playlist "Songs to Run Away To".

Ps. I see on her social media that the band went out to the Whitehorse Tavern after their show to catch a bit of Friday night honky-tonk/swing. She says that Bill Murray was there!

Odd Places

Click image for more photos ...

Monday is a lovely partly cloudy, sometimes sunny warming day. Judy and I explore the Barton Creek Green Belt in the morning and in the afternoon we three take a drive to the south west to see some of the interesting places we've discovered outside of Austin.

There's a huge Hindu temple and complex outside of town that's well worth a visit. The Radha Madhav Dham, Hindu Temple is just South West of Austin TX. Nearby is the Wizard Academy (totally not a cult!) with the tiny, but free, Chapel Dulcinea wedding chapel set on the hill side near the Wizard Academy Tower. On the weekends there's a crowd funded whiskey place where you can try bourbon tastings. On this Monday there's nothing much happening at all. Weddings are on the weekend as is the tasting. But you can wander the grounds, visit the chapel, have a peek at the tower and admire the sculptures scattered about.

We were going to take a drive down to Wimberley (we've never been but understand it's a nice town to visit) and on the way stopped at the Driftwood ghost town (Ok, it's not really a "ghost town" but there's really nothing there). That's Judy and Kate in the picture above on the verandah of the closed general store in Driftwood.

Further on we bumped into the Driftwood Estate Winery around closing time but managed to get in for one of the last tastings. They have a goodly long list of wines to taste, mostly reds, and we tried a few. They're not cheap but are worth trying. Oddly they actually grow some of their own grapes! The winery is on a hilltop with 18 acres of vineyard in the valley below -- the land down there would be tillable, up here on the hillside it's all rock. They irrigate their grapes. Of the wines we tasted, we were most impressed with the sangiovese and the syrah. Both were quite drinkable now, I don't think they're age worthy though.

We never made it to Wimberley. Instead we went to Hays City Store for what we've seen advertised as a 7:00 show by W. C. Clark -- he's an older blues player we've seen before. He plays solo somewhere almost every night and has been doing so for years. We arrive at 6:30 and his show is already underway. He wraps up shortly after 7:00 so it's good we arrived early.

Hays City Store is out in the country at a crossroads -- why it's called a "city store" beats me. There are a couple of good sized buildings -- one seems to be more a bar, the other seems more of a restaurant. There's a large outdoor patio area (under more live oaks) with tables and table service -- that's where the show is on a small stage so that's where we are.  It's chilly out there but they have table top propane heaters to warm the immediate area. It helps. It would be much nicer on a warm night.

The Hay City store is advertised as a "gastro-pub" (in the same manner that it's advertised as a "city store"). Judy has an enchilada dinner, Kate has some shrimp (she's always keen on fresh gulf shrimp), and I have a steak. The food is pretty good, nothing too exciting and not what I'd expect of a "gastro-pub". That's just some creative advertising.

Anyways, a fun day for all of us.

Purgatory Players

Click image for more photos ..

Sunday morning finds we three (Kate, Judy and me) back at the El Mercado on S 1st for the Purgatory Players Sunday Gospel-ish Brunch. We have our breakfast feasts with libations and enjoy the music. It's a full house.

Today's cast of characters includes Scrappy, Jeff and Seela with Jon Greene on drums -- no John Dee Graham today.

A young high school student, Austin Cobb, got up in the second half and did an excellent version of the Tom Petty song "Wildflowers".

Kate Howard, a second set regular, sang "Pinata Girl", Barbara Bergin wasn't around today. Someone, I forget who, told a story about sitting around a camp fire and swapping songs -- when the guitar was passed to him David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) sang "Psycho Killer". I guess anything can be a campfire song.

Jeff Plankenhorn tells us that he'll be playing near us, in Port Burwell, Ontario later in the March but before we return. He's been there before. He sings an optimistic song "Maybe It's Not Too Late" and I approach him at the break to let him know about the Tommy Douglas saying "It's never too late to make a better world". Jeff has Canadian connections -- I think his wife is from B.C. -- and knows who I'm talking about. Seela has Canadian connections as well, she's from Cornwall.

Anyways, another well spent morning. DanViewTube was there recording again. If you're interested here some of the tunes he recorded that are available on YouTube.

ABGB Dog Parade

Click image for more photos ...

The Austin Beer Garden and Brewery (ABGB ... a bit of a play on CBGB) nearby on Oltorf held their 5th annual dog parade and pug wedding to help raise money and awareness for "Pug Rescue Austin". Austin is a dog friendly town.

We stayed for the wedding but skipped out on the parade.

There were a lot of pugs and even a few pugs up for adoption -- you could have taken one home with you.

There were a lot of people there with dogs of various sorts and even a young woman with her Richard Parker cat. Brave to bring a cat to a dog parade. Many of the dogs were all dressed up in Mardi Gras togs -- like the King of the Mardi Gras in the picture to the left.

There was a pug wedding with attendants, lace veil, and so on. I don't know how long the marriage will last. Dogs aren't especially well known for being faithful to a one and only partner.

Most of the dogs were well behaved ... but, "Hey, stop humping my leg!"

For more information on the event itself see the ABGB posting.

Beth Lee & The Breakups

Click on Image for more photos ....

We went to see Beth Lee & the Breakups at the Little Longhorn Saloon on Burnet (you say "burn-it" not "burn-ette") in North Austin on Friday night. It was an early show and one of those where they pass a tip jar. We caught the first set.

I had been interested in this group since at least our last visit but this was the first time we got to see them play live. They play regularly around the area so it's our fault we hadn't caught them before (it's also a sign of how much good music there is in Austin). I have an iTunes copy of their "Keep Your Mouth Shut" (2016) album which is a nice mix of country & blues done up with some acoustic and a bit of electric. There's another album ("One More Time Again" 2013) and a recent single "Waiting on You Tonight" (2020). All of that I really like. Tonight's show was very much a hard rocking blues show and not quite what we had expected.

I suspect what you see is a function of who she has for a band. Some of the band tonight are different from what I had seen in her Youtube videos. The fellow on electric guitar took the lead on a number of songs and did lots of electric solos. Again, that's not quite what we're after. All that aside, it was a very good show.

The Little Longhorn Saloon is a very small honky-tonk with regular live music. We've seen Fingerpistol (they have a regular Tuesday residency) and Mike Stinson here (two favorite bands). It used to be called Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon but Ginny is now only around for chicken-shit bingo here and at C-boys. There's very little parking on site, and very little parking in the neighborhood.

Kate bought me a fancy craft beer of some sort -- there's a regular "Happy Hour" deal on Lone Star beer that you ought to take advantage of. Happy hour prices are something like $1.75 for a Lone Star -- she paid something like $8 for a craft beer. Kate had paid for my beer and some wine and got confused with the American paper money -- it all looks the same to us. The waitress came back to her and said, I think you gave me a $20 bill when you thought it was a $1 bill. Kate wasn't sure she had so said, keep it. Thereafter we got great service! It pays to tip.

Birthday Feed

Click image for more photos ...

It's my birthday in Austin. We are often travelling somewhere when it's my birthday. In the summer we tend to hang around home for Kate's birthday, but here we are in Austin for mine. Cindy has gone home so there's just the two of us. And I can have anything I want for lunch -- so let's have some Texas BBQ! Bring on the beef! Time for some brisket!

This is a bit of a sufferance for Kate as she's a piscatarian.

We often end up driving out to the Salt Lick BBQ near Driftwood and sample some wines along the way. They have very good brisket but today we stay in town.

The best BBQ in town, without argument, is the Franklin BBQ on 11th in East Austin but we have no desire to stand in the long lines for that and often they're sold out by early afternoon anyways! Another good one in town is Terry Black's on Barton Springs. We're reading a review of BBQ joints on Tripadvisor (I occassionally post reviews there) and bump into a story where someone had tried to get into Terry Black's, found it very busy and happily ended up down the road at the Green Mesquite BBQ. We end up there for a late lunch and it's not too busy at all.

The Green Mesquite is down homey kind of place that looks a little tired and worn even from the outside. Inside it's worn too, but that's a good indication that people come here pretty often. Staff are cheery, friendly and helpful. There is a large outdoor patio area but it's a cool day and no one is out there. There are a few other lunch stragglers tucking into their meals but it's not very busy. I end up with a 3-meat plate -- it's a special on Wednesday where, for the price of a 2-meat plate, you get a third meat. I was just looking for some brisket but this is too good a deal to pass. I have some tender brisket (that was my objective anyways), with chicken wings and BBQ roast chicken. Sides of pinto beans and mashed potatoes with a beer to wash it down. Kate has some catfish, fries and salads. It's served in huge Texas style portions -- enough that we have leftovers for dinner. We enjoyed our meals but couldn't finish them -- not for lack of trying.

I like the old posters on the wall of shows from places like La Zona Rosa (which we had been to) and the Armadillo World Headquarters (long before our days in Austin).

For those who get shirty about who should be using which bathrooms you can forget about that here. The un-sexed washroom had a sign with symbols for a man, woman, a trans-person and an alien. Underneath it say, "Whatever, just wash your hands". I'm all for that.

I quite like Texas BBQ and the offerings at the Green Mesquite -- we will return again.                                           

Lonelyland

Click for more photos ...

Monday night we go to see Bob Schneider's Lonelyland at the Saxon Pub which is short distance away. We take an Uber car to Barlata (a new Italian/tapas restaurant we're curious about) for the happy hour/dinner and then walk the short distance over to the Saxon for the show.

Lonelyland is a weekly residence that we've been to several times. It's always entertaining and often pretty funny, sometimes a little bizarrely naughty. When it's good, it's great. Bob Schneider sells out big halls, this is a much more intimate environment and an opportunity to get really silly.

We have reserved seating tickets but there's a large standing room only crowd right behind us and in front of the bar. We're on a banquette with a table and chairs, there are some more tables and chairs in front of us and then the corner stage. Most at these seats are keen to listen to and enjoy the show. There's a couple of young women behind us who are noisily being chatted up by a young fellow their age. After putting up with their chatter for quite a while and casting dirty looks their way I ultimately turned around and asked them pretty forcefully to shut to fuck up! If you're not interested in the show go yammer in the other room, go outside, or go home! This, of course, had little effect. They're interested in the show, but also interested in yammering to one another. Again it's one of those cases where I wish they'd charge twice as much to keep these guys away. There are meat markets with recorded music where young folk can meet and mate.

Anyways, that's one of my constant gripes about music events in Austin. People don't appreciate what they have.

Earlier that day we went to the Bullock Museum to catch the IMAX movie "America's Musical Journey". It's a short show, with some 3D and very loud. It wasn't too busy and we enjoyed the show. It focussed on the various musical influences found around the country. Cindy and I also took in the photo exhibit "THIS LIGHT OF OURS: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement". That's a special exhibit for Black History Month. There are some very sad stories of prejudice and injustice that play out during our lifetime. Thank god for LBJ and the Great Society.

We had lunch at the Texas Chili Parlor Bar. It's a dive but we go often. It's not too busy today -- I suppose because it's President's Day and a lot are on holidays. We chat briefly with the waiter who rides the one speed bike. He tells us he's living in a house that has no heat at all! It's quite cold here at the bar -- it must be awful in his home. Kate and Cindy have the vegetarian chili, Reg has the enchilada and steak plate, we all enjoy some mad dog margarita's and toast Guy Clark who has made the drink and this bar famous. We tip well and hope our server will stay warm.

For more on the mythology of this bar/restaurant see this story in the Texanist.

Gospel Brunch

Click image for more photos ...

Sunday morning finds us again at the El Mercado restaurant on S 1st for the Purgatory Players and their Gospel-ish Brunch show -- a pass the hat fund raiser for the Central Texas Food Bank.

Today there are two regular Purgatory Players -- Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Jon Green  (on drums). Today Rich Brotherton (of Ulla) and David Pulkingham round out the line up. I think John Dee Graham was supposed to show but didn't. In the 2nd hour there's the usual guests -- Barbara Bergin (she's an orthopedic surgeon but likes singing) and Kate Howard who has a funny song "Misfired" about scooters and manages to rhyme cupid with stupid. Rich Brotherton did a very good version of the Iris Dement song "Let the Mystery Be"  (both DanViewTube recordings). Lots of other great tunes that morning.

We (Kate, Cindy and I) arrive early and have good seats for the show. We enjoy some breakfast tacos, quesadillas and break fast margaritas. A breakfast margarita is essentially a slushy margarita with a splash of orange juice. Kate says I should be generous when I tip the staff but 50% on the cheque is a little too generous. My math failed me. The staff, who are always very helpful and efficient, will be grateful.

For the rest of the sunny day we visited Guero's Oak Garden in the afternoon where we caught a bit of "Three Chord Rodeo" who are a very good band. Stopped in to the very busy ABGB but only caught a bit of the act there. There's the usual crowd of dancers and they continue dancing to recorded music between sets -- I recognize Terry Allen's "Amarillo Highway" playing, probably the Robert Earl Keen version.

Ps. it's "a-ma-rill-o" not "a-ma-ree-o". The Spanish pronunciation varies in Texas.

We talk to an interesting couple our age at our table outside. They are visiting from Ithaca NY where it's very cold. They, like us, believe it's better to be here than shovelling snow there. They're here to visit with their daughter and her friend/partner who is studying medicine at UTX. They're all very friendly. The fellow from NY was telling me he used to race motorcycles on ice! Now that sounds like a scary way to have fun. Oddly his wife didn't seem too worried about him doing so. I thought it was a crazy idea.

Guns in Texas

Another Sale on Hand Guns

People often ask about hand guns in Texas. There are some strange laws on issues like open carry (I recall the state legislated that their state funded universities like UTX could not ban licenced hand guns from campus) and there are some strange attitudes about guns and gun rights but we're never really bumped into anyone with a guns -- that we know of. The only persons I've ever seen armed with a hand gun are the police and sheriffs. Kate recalls shotguns and rifles in gun racks in pickup trucks but I don't.

I sent the attached advertisement to a friend of mine who is always goading me about guns: "You should get a .357 magnum when you're in Texas." My intention was to buy him a water pistol at Wal-Mart but in my letter I told him that:

This week it's little guns on sale for very good prices. Last week you could have a cute pink one for your sweet baboo on Valentines Day.

I think I'll pass.

Ps. we passed this pawn shop the other day that had a sign saying they'd buy, sell or loan handguns. "I only need it for a hold up this afternoon."

The idea of loaning out hand guns just struck me as really bizarre. Who would do that? I pointed out the Pawn shop sign to Kate and Cindy on our drive out to Luckenbach. They corrected me -- what the sign means is we'll loan you money if you give us your gun.

Ok, now I understand.

Luckenbach Hug-In

Click image for more photos ...

The Luckenbach 45th annual Hug-In is a Valentine's Day event held on the weekend closest to Valentine's Day. This year Friday was the 14th and Dale Watson had a dance in the old dance hall. We have tickets to see Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis on the Saturday.

Luckenbach is a small hill town, population 2, made famous by the Outlaw, Cosmic and Gonzo Country music of the 1970's. You may have heard the song "Lluckenbach Texas" (1977) by Waylon Jennings or the 1973 "Viva Terlingua" live album by Jerry Jeff Walker recorded in the Luckenbach dance hall. It's the kind of country music we like and one of the main reasons for coming to Texas.

We've been to Luckenbach a few times over the years but haven't been back since the 2013 Hug-In where Gary P Nunn played. The first time would have been back in the 1990's -- Cindy was with us then as well. We've been a number of times for the Hug-In but have only made it to the dance once. This year is no exception.

Luckenbach is about an hour and a half west of the city in the hill country. It's near Fredericksburg (made famous by those Austin Lounge Lizards for the Chester Nimitz Oriental Garden). Between Johnson City (yes that Johnson, the ranch is nearby) and Fredericksburg there's quite a few wineries springing up. Most get there grapes elsewhere -- often the Llano Estacado area in the Texas panhandle. We stop at the Signor Winery on our return that afternoon where I have a lovely glass of Pinto Noir made with Oregon grapes, the ladies try the Chardonnay. There are some grapes grown locally but not a lot.

Ps. for the town Llano you say "lano", for the Llan Estacado you say "yano". Spanish pronunciation is hit and miss in Texas.

Anyway we arrive in Luckenbach around 1:00pm and my how things have changed. There's still the old general store/bar, the dance hall and feed lot. But there's a lot of new structures -- like a fully functional washroom outbuilding (the old pisser by the creek has been turned into another beer service bar), several stages with live music (in the old days pickers and grinners would just gather under the trees and play pick-up tunes with one another). But everybody is somebody in Luckenbach and beer is still beer, "I'll have a Lone Star thank you, mam". Kate and Cindy are refreshed with some Chardonnay from Becker Vineyards (a local winery) bottled up as half bottles with a Luckenbach label. We've brought some lunch with us but end up have some hot food from the Feedlot. There's a pretty extensive menu at the Feedlot by comparison to when "Big Daddy" ran it years ago -- back then you could have beans, weiners, or beans with weiners and a slab of white bread.

The weather is windy and cool, too cool for our taste. Jimmie Lee Jones is playing country classics on one of the stages -- there used to be a washer pit there for plunking washers (a game somewhat like horseshoes). We come inside the small bar for a while and warm up by the wood stove. Even with our lawn chairs and blankets it was just too cool outside. We end up going home early while it's still light and stop at the winery on the way out.

Our tickets to the dance? We leave with the nice lady who is controlling entry to the parking field. Perhaps someone arriving later can use them.

LBJ Library

Click image for more photos ....

We had a couple of vistors join us while in Austin. Our good friend Cindy arrived on Valentine's Day and stayed for a few days. We took her to the LBJ Presidential Library on campus of UTX on our first day. We have been once before (with Gord and Leslie) and found it to be very interesting. It's especially interesting because we can remember at least some of the events that shaped the presidency.

There's 3 floor of exhibits and many more floors you cannot access where the presidential archives are stored away. Among the many papers in the archives there are also many recordings. Most recordings were made without the knowledge or permission of those recorded. There are quite a few you can listen to and some are quite interesting. Kate and Cindy are laughing hard in the photo as they listen to Lyndon Johnson try to sweet talk Kathryn Graham the publisher of the Washington Post. It's more than a bit ribald with pretty explicit innuendo. My how the world has changed.

On our return home we listened to a couple of related and interesting podcasts about LBJ. The first is "LBJ's War"  (Public Radio International) which covers the Vietnam war he inheirited on becoming president and the quagmire it became as he sought to win an unwinnable war. The second was "LBJ and the Great Society" which documents the astonishing success LBJ achieved on civil rights, voting rights, medicare/medicaid and more. We'd both recommend these podcasts, they're well worth a listen.

You usually think of LBJ in terms of the Vietnam War but forget the substantial good he achieved. We are dismayed by current efforts to unwind all that was, all the could be.

If you're in Austin, visit the LBJ library.

Bill Carter with Gabe Rhodes

Click image for more photos

Kate has been struggling with a leg pain since arriving and is unable to go to the Rawhide Trails House Concert showcasing Bill Carter with Gabe Rhodes accompanying that we had reserved some time ago. We're on their mailing list and enjoy house concerts in Austin -- this is one of several we go to while vacationing.  Over the years Dino & Leslie Jobe have hosted some pretty important artists -- there's so many I wish I had been there for. But we're only in town for a few weeks in the winter.

It's a well attended house concert outside the city in the scrubby hill country at $25pp (I pay for Kate even though she's not there -- at house concerts the admission goes to the players). This will be the third time we've been to this house concert series -- many thanks to the hosts for letting us, and others, into their home. We've been there for the Austin Moonlighters (2016) and Beat Root Revival (2019).

I talk to Rich and Ann from Boston who now live in Travis Heights (a SoCo area of Austin where we have sometimes stayed). It turns out that we go to many of the same shows. Later I meet with a couple from Austin who had moved here a few years ago. They've only been to shows at the Paramount Theatre and this house concert. I give them my researched list of shows and events that we hope to see in Austin -- it runs for several pages. It's really strange to be telling Austinites about the shows and events they ought to see.

Bill Carter, who we have seen before at Sun Radio events under the Live Oaks at Guero's, is an interesting character. He and his wife (who is recovering from a health issue) have written a lot of tunes, mostly blues influenced, for bands like the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan, the Derailers, etc. He has some very good guitar work. He's older (or at least looks a lot older), a bit grizzly, tatooed before it became de rigeur and has lived in LA and Paris France with Austin his current home. A man who has seen the world, written about it, and been paid to do so.

Gabe Rhodes, he's the son of Kimmie Rhodes, is an important session player around Austin. He's toured with all sorts of important people including Billy Joe Shaver. He's a guitar wizard and plays an old Gibson guitar -- sometimes with a bottle neck slide, sometimes on his lap, but always as a great accompaniest to compliment Bill's music. I noted that his guitar seems to have some black duct tape holding it together and ask him later about that. He tells me it was damaged during air travel (remember how United breaks guitars) and yes it is held together with duct tape -- it sounds better than ever!

I'm pretty chuffed about the picture above. It's from a front row seat that I moved to. It's take with a very wide angle lens and really captures them together. Bill Carter said, "Ah, here's a guy with a camera". I tried to be discrete, it's a grab shot with my camera held on my lap.

Austin Lounge Lizards

Click image for more photos.. 

Threadgills Old No. 1 is a restaurant on N Lamar; quite far north. It's famous as the place where Janis Joplin got her start and has always supported live music. Many nights you can have dinner and catch some music. We've been a few times over the years -- recently to see the Shawnee Kilgore residency with Jeff Plankenhorn as the guest. While they advertise "home cooking" you're better off cooking at home.

Tonight, however, they have the Austin Lounge Lizards -- one of our favorite bands. Kate wanted to invite them to come and play at our 40th Wedding Anniversary this summer but I don't think our bank account is sufficient for that. Judging by the full house they clearly have a good following. We are not alone.

Our friend Pat, who never travelled much but loved reading about music, had introduced us to them many years ago when he mail ordered "Creatures from the Black Saloon" (1984). Since then we've collected their entire catalogue and enjoy everyone of them.

The band was formed in 1980, Conrad Deisler and Hank Card are shown above, and are celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a show on March 28 at the Cactus Club Cafe. We'll be home by then, this is our only chance to see them on this visit to Austin. They all have reasonable day jobs and only perform occassionally so we're lucky to have them at all during our stay in Austin.

If you don't know their music you need to be prepared to laugh your head off. They do funny tunes poking fun at all sorts of stuff. Like "Another Stupid Song About Texas" which is, another stupid song about Texas. Another one that has me in tears is "Buenos Dias Budweiser" where they sing in Spanish with odd translations. Another is "The Drugs I Need" which parodies drug advertisements. And "Jesus Loves Me (But He Can't Stand You)" that pokes fun at the Christian Fundamentalists.

They also engage the audience with banter and some funny jokes.

"I see it's an older crowd tonight. Are any of you veterans ... of the civil war? Are any of you still working? And I don't mean consulting."

We had a friendly waitress and enjoyed a couple of Mexican martinis. Having eaten here before we went for some appetizers instead. Kate had the carrot cake, we shared some salad, sweet potato fries and garlicy grits. They were pretty good -- huge portions of course.

On the sad political front, Trump is wrecking his revenge after his acquittal -- Ambassador Sondland and Lt. Col . Alexander Vindman, who testified under oath at the house hearings have been fired. To top it off Vindman's twin brother (who had nothing to do with anything) has been goose stepped out of the Whitehouse.

The Austin Lounge Lizards have a song for that -- "We've Been Through Some Crappy Times Before". Yeah sure, but does it have to get this crappy?

Casper Rawls & Friends

Click image for photos ...

We went to the Casper Rawls & Friends residency at the Continental Club on South Congress tonight. It's an early Thursday night show from 6:30-9:00 with no cover charge -- they pass the hat. There's been some press encouraging people to go as there are some noteworthy players joining in -- Betty Soo, Michael Fracasso and Kelly Willis. They're all important artists in their own right so we're expecting a crowd.

Betty Soo is an amazing vocalist who we've seen a few times -- sometimes she accompanies others but she solos as well. She has several albums and videos on YouTube. We're always impressed when we see her.

Michael Fracasso plays very much in the folkie tradition -- we have a version of him doing Woody Guthries "1913 Massacre" on our "Christmas in Prison" collection. We haven't seen him in many years, I think the last time was at the Waterloo Ice House when it was over on Lamar by Waterloo Records. Another place that's long gone.

Kelly Willis (and her husband Bruce Robison) is an Americana performer with several records. I have been listening to "Cheaters Game" (2013) and am curious to see her perform. She has an extensive catalogue going back to 1990. We have tickets to see them together (Kelly and Bruce) at the Luckenbach Hug-In later this month.

Casper Rawls has been doing this residency for many years now. He's a session musician mostly known for his electric guitar work. We have seen him before at Mystery Monday events. This show tonight is unusual in that everyone is playing acoustic guitars. No electric guitars, bass, drums or other flourishes. Just simple songs with stripped down arrangements. The kind of music you want to listen to.

We have arrived early and get good seats on the tired banquette. There are high bar stools and tables arranged in rows for about two dozen patrons. The rest is standing room, or at the bar, or the dance floor at the front of the stage.

The first hour or so it was a great listening room with an attentive audience and some sitting on the dance floor. But as the evening wore one people starting standing in front of the stage and chatting over the performers. Why do all the tall guys arrive late, stand in front to block your view and then chat loudly to their other tall friends? If they're not interested in the show why not go elsewhere, or at least stand in the back of the room. I don't mind dancers on the dance floor -- that's what it's called. At the break between 8:00-8:30 we decided there were too many standing on the dance floor, or around the bar, not listening and chatting loudly. We went home ....

However, in the ladies room Kate bumped into this funny grafitti diaglogue:

Surely everybody wasn't Kung-Fu fighting!

I was!

Me too!

We got a good chuckle out of that.

On a sadder note, on the political front, the Donald was aquitted of all impeachment charges yesterday by the Senate. Impeached by the House of Representative, acquitted by a Republican dominated Senate. The only republican to vote with the house was Mitt Romney and now, of course, Trump is out to get him. Barr, the Attorney General, has issued a new policy -- no investigation of any political candidates.

James McMurtry

Click on Image for more photos...

Tuesday February 4 is a beautiful sunny warm day with temperatures rising to 80F. It's so nice we both go swimming in Barton Springs. Kate does lengths, I take some dips, photos and admire the scenery.

That evening we see James McMurtry at the Continental Club Gallery. It's a small seedy listening room above the Continental Club on South Congress. Doors open at 8:00 for a weekly 8:30-10:00 solo show with a modest $10 cover. James does a regular midnite show with a full band downstairs on another night. But at our age we don't/can't stay up that late. We did catch him with a band one time at Threadgill's on Barton Springs which has since closed. Another time we caught him at Waterloo Records when his last album "Complicated Game" was released.

That night Donald Trump, currently impeached, delivers his "State of the Union" to Congress. We'd rather be here. James has a great song “State of the Union” about the current great divide in America. We saw James McMurtry the night that Trump was elected.

The gallery seats about 40-50 patrons with some tables and a few comfy but tired sofas -- we claim a comfy sofa and pick up some drinks at the bar. It's a mixed crowd with all ages but most are mature over 30's.

James reminds people that waitstaff throughout the US, but especially so here in Austin, are poorly paid and rely on tips to survive. Therefore you should dig deep and tip liberally -- start at 25% and work your way up.

We've seen James here before; I suspect we come once during every visit. I think the first time we saw him was at La Zona Rosa in the warehouse district when it really was a warehouse district (it's now a mass of very tall high rises and office buildings). Back then (1994 or so) he was working on tunes for what became the LP "Where'd You Hide the Body".

His first album, "Too Long in the Wasteland" (1989) has this memorable verse which pretty much wraps up the Austin story

I'm not from here, I just live here
But people tell me it's not like it used to be
They say I should've been here back about ten years
Before it got ruined by folks like me

We like this place. People are attentive, it's a listening room. And James has a large catalogue of songs to draw from (e.g. State of the Union, Choctaw Bingo, Copper Canteen, etc.). He tries out a few songs we have not heard before (and we have a collection of his music). Most are somewhat sad stories, little vignettes of life's failings. One was a story set in the west about the farm going bust/dry and driving a big rig to make enough to feed the horses. Another was a story about a farm that fails and a friend who gets shot. His songs always have interesting stories. He's an important and studied writer -- his father is the author Larry McMurtry.

James is amazing on guitars -- he alternately plays a 6 and a 12 string acoustic. He makes them sing like a full orchestra, really quite impressive. I note that sometimes he plays with two capos on the guitar neck -- a short one for the high strings and another to bridge the bass notes. I'd never seen anyone do that before.

He tells some stories we've heard. Like how his dad left the church and became an atheist, how methodists refuse to dance, how "Copper Canteen" got cited in the "failing" New York Times, how he wrote "Levelland" (which became a Robert Earl Keene hit) and how he's really just there to sell beer so go buy some while I tune my guitar. Of the tunes that apply during these odd times he does "State of the Union", he doesn't do "We Can't Make it Here Anymore" or "Cheney's Toy" (dated of course).

Oddly James does not come to these shows with any merchandise to sell. I guess you're just supposed to stop in to Waterloo Records.

Anyways, James McMurty is a really good artist if you like songs with rich story lines. And this is a good venue to see him play. We'll be back.

Barton Springs

Click image for more photos ...

Barton Springs is a natural swimming pool in Zilker Park which is in the west end along Town Lake. It's built into a natural river channel (Barton Creek) that is dammed off at each end. Most of the time Barton Creek is dry as it was during our stay. When the creek is flowing the water is diverted around the pool in a concrete channel on the west side of the pool. The people you see walking towards the camera are walking on top of that water diverson channel. You can see the skyline of the city on the north side of Town Lake in the distance.

When the creek floods, and flash floods are not uncommon in this part of Texas, the upstream dam and diversion are not sufficient to contain the creek. The pool was recently flooded and closed for repairs (see article of May 2019 from Austin American Statesman).

The pool is fed by several springs. There's a small Eliza Spring on the west side, home to the protected Barton Springs Salamander which is unique to this spot. The main spring is on the east side near the diving board. Judging by the water which flows out of the pool on the down stream side the main Barton Spring must have quite the flow.

Because it's spring fed from the underground aquifer the water temperature is nearly constant year round at around 68F. During hot days in the summer it's a great place to cool off. We had a couple of very warm days in early February during our stay and were able to get in swimming. Kate likes to do lengths, I'll jump in to cool off, maybe swim across the pool but nothing like what Kate does. The water is cool enough that a light wet suit helps.

We met a fellow in an elaborate wet suit who told us about jumping in off into the diving area (where the pool is the deepest) and sitting on the bottom wondering why his heart had stopped. If true, it's a testament to how cool it can be. Kate likes to enter the water bit by bit, I prefer to jump in. She's always warning me that my heart might stop. I suppose that might be true but I'd rather get in quickly.

There's a yearly Polar Bear dip on January 1 but it really can't compare to the Polar Bear dips we have in Canada. The water will still be about 68F which, in cold weather, is a pleasant alternative to standing around in the wind and weather. Here in Canada people jump into water that's right at the freezing mark -- 32F or 0C. That is really cold water.

During busy times there are lots of people in the pool. As it's natural spring water, not cholorinated water like in most man made pools, cleaning is an issue. The pool is cleaned every Thursday and shutdown for cleaning for the entire month of March. I'd recommend they shutdown from mid-January to mid-February when the weather is at it's coolest. Often times there's good swimming weather in March.

Below the downstream dam people canoe and kajak out to Town Lake. They also like to take their dogs for a swim there, or jump in the water themselves if they're not willing to pay the entrance fee. Lucky for us there's free entry in the winter. But then there are only a few days you'd want to go swimming. There are, of course, the hardy souls who swim every day rain or shine. We're not like them. And nobody should be swimming in Town Lake. They discourage people from swimming in the outflow of the pool but it's likely as safe as the pool itself.

We enjoy having a swim and the sun when the weather is nice.

In Gary P Nunn's song "What I like about Texas" one of the lines refers to "Swimming in the sacred waters of Barton Springs.

P.s. One other thing I find intriguing -- topless swimmers/sunbathers are common!

My Mom

Click image for more photos ...

We're in Austin Texas enjoying ourselves on what would have been my mother's 100th birthday (she was born February 5, 1920). Mom died in November of 1997 when she would have been 77 -- we still miss her. My birthday this month will bring me to 68 years so I'm getting to the age where I can imagine being 77; it doesn't seem that old any more. But then there's that rule about what counts as old -- the old folks are those who are 10 years older than you.

The picture at right is me with my Mom in 1952. Click on the image for more photos.

My mom was an interesting character who married young, raised a great slew of kids and contributed a great deal to her community. Kate and I wrote this song for her 70th birthday and I thought I'd share it here. There are 15 verses (sic!), we learned later in life to be brief. We sang it again at her wake.

Praise Maggie

(to the tune "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow")

1. Praise Maggie who has scrimped and saved.
    Praise her to all of us she gave.
    She gave us love, she gave us hope,
    She reminded us to use the soap.

2. A temperance daughter she was born,
    The United Church it was forlorn.
    She married into Anglicans,
    But stayed tee-total to the end.

3. Oh Maggie who was married young.
    She bore a daughter and some sons.
    She cared for kids, cows, chickens too,
    And made sure Maurice got his due.

4. It's really tough when your man is ill,
    To carry on requires some will,
    They said he'd die a long slow death,
    And they were right, he's with us yet.

5. Oh Maggie was a cook so fair,
    She made meals out of thin air.
    Bread pudding and mock apple pie,
    We ate it but we wondered why.

6. Well Christmas was a busy time,
    With presents, plays to organize.
    To make the bird at three she rose,
    And she always had the Pope's nose.
                     (and neck too!)

7. Oh Maggie said the trains won't run
    Forever, we must have some fun.
    So off we went to Toronto
    Good thing we did 'cause ain't it so?

8. Well time had passed she learned to drive,
    With husband Maurice at her side.
    With yells and screams he taught her how,
    But she got her licence any how!

9. When needed by the church and school,
    To give to others was the rule.
    She was Old Wolf and let the cubs,
    She played their games and said the "dubs".
                                  dub-dub-dub

10. To raise kids was a might chore,
     She cooked and cleaned and even more.
     Chased Paul around the village fair,
     She caught him by his long blond hair.

11. She put her pen to local news
    Newspapers and historical muse.
    Her publication list is long,
    To tell us all what has gone on.

12.Well, Maggie said that rum's not fitting.
    Except for making Christmas pudding.
    And others thought they same thing too,
    We had dessert and then were stewed.

13.Oh Maggie never drove a truck,
    But the telephone she could not duck.
    The phone would ring, a load was due,
    "It's on the way, I promise you!"

14.Oh Maggie hear the duty call,
    She put her name up on the wall.
    As councillor she was cheered loud,
    But Walter's Falls remained unplowed.

15.Praise Maggie from who all blessings flow,
    Praise her because her children know,
    All that she's dared, all that she's done,
    We thank her now and return her love.

Ah women!

Mystery Monday - Bob Livingston

Click on image for more photos ...

Monday is a warm day but threatening rain. We take our bikes to Town Lake and bike along the new boardwalk over the water near the IH35. Along the way we see the local Crab Shack has closed -- that's unfortunate as there are very few restaurants on the lake. For lunch we drop in to see more tatooed ladies and their dogs at the vegetarian Bouldin Cafe. It's Kate's favorite restaurant and caters to the stereo-typical Austin Slackerville Hippy. There's even a Slackers Feast on the menu (a bowl of beans and rice, cheese extra)!

That evening we have dinner and several Mexican Martinis at the Backstage at the El Mercado (motto: World Peace thru Tex-Mex) and take in Christine Albert's weekly Mystery Monday show. This Monday the mystery guest is Bob Livingston who we've seen many time before. He played with and wrote a number of songs that were made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker; for example "Public Domain" and "It's Good Night for Singing" are two of his. He told stories about touring with the Lost Gonzo Band and we all sang along to "London Home Sick Blues" (aka "Home with the Armadillo" by Gary P Nunn) made famous on the Viva Terlingua album recorded live at Luckenbach. It's also been the theme song for the Austin City Live show on PBS.

Tonight Christine is co-hosting with Rich Brotherton, with regulars Bobby Kallus on drums and David Carrol on upright bass. We were expecting Bill Kirchen as a co-host but he apparently has stepped down from that role.

Of the many great tunes that night the one that really stood out for me was "Runnin' with You"  (YouTube recording by Christina Fijardo) performed by Rich Brotherton. It's a song written by Sarah Elizabeth Campbell who, with Christine, was one of the original founders of this series. There's a tribute art work to Sarah on the wall of the Backstage, we were here when it was unveiled a few years back.

Rich performed that piece on electric guitar. To me it sounded like a punkish anthem -- back when I was runnin' with you. I contacted Rich over Facebook Messenger to find out if he had recorded it -- he hasn't, the YouTube version above will have to do.

Rich also performs in an Irish band "Ulla" every Sunday night at the Saxon Pub. Our friends who host the B2 concerts have recommended we go see them and we will.

George Ensle, Todd Hoke

Click Image for more photos ...

Sunday afternoon, a beautifully sunny warm day in Austin Texas (Kate even went swimming in Barton Springs), we have a house concert just east of town on the way towards Bastrop at the home of Joe & Bev Angel. Arhaven House Concerts are hosting George Ensle (a Texan who has been around for many years, we saw him at Mystery Mondays) and Todd Hoke (a younger fellow who we know nothing about). But it's a house concert, a place where people listen to music. Both are mature singer/song writers -- folk with a touch of country

Several years ago we were talking to a fellow at some music event  and he told us that we should look into house concerts. There are several around town that you can find if you do a little digging. We have tickets to go to three -- this one, a Rawhide Trail concert, and a neighborhood B2 concert. You need to search a bit to find these concerts and get on their mailing lists. House concerts usually require that you be invited. They're a great way to keep musicians employed and busy.

Joe & Bev, our hosts, have a nice home in an open country community just west of the airport. It's about a half hour drive from our home. We've been before -- last year we saw "Ordinary Elephant" and "Hardened and Tempered" at their home. We chat a bit with them and see them another time at the Austin Acoustical Cafe (a pseudo-house concert at the Seniors Centre on N Lamar). Bev tells us they were at the Stan-fest in Nova Scotia last year (the Stan Rogers Folk Festival) and plan on going again this year. Their home is well suited for house concerts -- we're told that they designed it on purpose so that it would support concerts like this. Today they have nearly 60 people. The show runs from 3:00 until around 5:30 with a break in the middle. Afterwards, if you want, you can stick around for an informal jam session. We haven't done that -- we should sometime.

George Ensle is an older Texan folk/country singer/song writer with some funny stories to tell. Todd Hoke is a much younger musician from North Carolina and George is the butt of many jokes about older folks. Rick Brock sat in with them playing harmonica. We bumped into Rich at El Mercado events later in our visit.

George was a contemporary with Townes van Zandt, Guy Clark and others. A very funny story concerned Townes and the birth of George's daughter. Townes had said to George that he wanted to give her a bible. George thinks this is pretty weird and little out of character, but OK sure. So Townes has George over to his house to give him a bible for his daughter. And there, he discovers, that Townes has book shelves full of Gideon bibles all neatly arranged by color. Stacks and stacks of them that he's collected from hotel/motels while touring. George says, you know you're not supposed to take them home, you're supposed to read them in your hotel room. Townes replies, "You'd have to stay there an awfully long time!".

We really like George's guitar picking but especially enjoyed Todd Hoke's music. We bought a CD and a couple of his digital downloads.

George says that in Nashville, if you put a capo on your dash you're entitled to disabled parking.

Purgatory Players - Full Monty

Click Image for more photos...

Sunday morning was a "full monty" for the Purgatory Players and their weekly morning Gospel-ish brunch at the Backstage of the El Mercado restaurant on South 1st in Austin. It's our first visit on this winter vacation -- but not our last.

We had Scrappy Judd Newcombe, Jeff Plankenhorn, Seela Misra and John Dee Graham with Jon Greene on drums. Scrappy and Jeff are just back from a tour. John Dee has been away as well. Together they're the entire gang. In the second half there were several guests from the audience who got up to play a tune.

This event is a regular fund raiser for the Central Texas Food Bank who feed the needy. The band members pay for free so you need to dig deep and give a good tip when they pass the hat.

Here's some of the music from that morning (many thanks to DanViewtube  -- he's a regular at these show and a great archivist of the music played):

1. Jeff Plankenhorn - Not Too Late (I approached Jeff, who has a Canadian connection, and reminded him that Tommy Douglas had said "It's never too late to make a better world")
2. John Dee Graham - Faithless
3. John Dee Graham - Move Over Lazarus
4. Scrappy Jud Newcomb - Two White Horses
5. Kate Howard - Casino (2nd set guest from audience)
6. Barbara Bergin - Everylasting (2nd set guest from audience)
7. Shawnee Kilgore - 86 Degrees ( (2nd set guest from audience)
8. Ben & Cassie Wilson (My One & Only) - I Saw The Light ( (2nd set guest from audience)

We come most weeks when we can. We enjoy the music and have a bit of breakfast. Maybe a morning margarita, maybe a mexican martini, maybe a PBR. Something to start the day right.

Two Tons of Steel

Click on Image for more photos ...

After our jaunt to Gruene that Saturday evening in early February we took in the band "Two Tons of Steel" at the Broken Spoke.

Two Tons of Steel is a San Antonio rockabilly/country band who we had seen before at Guero's -- at one of the Sun Radio events and then again one weekend under the live oaks. They're a very good band with several records. They even do an interesting cover of Fred Eaglesmith's song "Alcohol and Pills".

The Broken Spoke is an old time dance hall and a bit of a country culture icon in Austin. People were there to dance, to hear the band and to click a check-box of places you must see while in Austin. You can also go there for dinner -- they, like many others, claim to have the best chicken fried steak in Texas. I can tell you they don't.

We arrived by Uber (a short but expensive ride from our nearby home) at around 8:30 for the 9:00 show. We're met at the door by James White (the owner and builder) who is decked out in fancy cowboy gear. There's dance lessons from 8:00 until 9:00 when there's a show and there are lots of people attempting the Texas two-step. The lessons went well past 9:00 and the show started later.

The dance instructor (I believe she's James White's daughter) kept the crowd entertained as she attempted to teach the fundamentals. I'm sure some learned a step or two. However, once the show started it became pretty clear that there are dancers and there are punters trying to dance. It's a treat to see people who can dance (I can't, Kate used to be a dance instructor), it's painful to see those who have no sense of rhythm. But everyone was enjoying themselves and I suppose that's all that really matters.

The last time we were here was to see Dale Watson on our visit last year. At that time we got in to find the place packed solid -- standing room only. We didn't like that and didn't stay. This time, when we were entering we asked if there were any seats and were told that had admitted 150 and had room for either 350 or 450. So we got in and took a table on the side with not much of a view of the stage. For the band pictures I got up close to the stage. But it did seem pretty crowded on the floor and at the tables. The sound was pretty good up front and on the dance floor but not so great we were sitting. We only stayed for the first set.

The Broken Spoke is a victim of it's own success. It's far too busy on the weekends. We could try going to the regular Tuesday night residency with Weldon Hensen. I suspect it's not as crowded and there are more dancers.

Ps. they have WiFi, James White gave me the password. It's "Keep it Country".

Gruene & Bill Kirchen

Click Image for more photos...

Saturday February 1 was a lovely sunny day for a drive out of the city. We headed out to historic Gruene Texas (it's German, say "green") which is about an hour south of Austin and just north of San Antonio. It's actually part of New Braunfels (at least administratively). Bill Kirchen, who plays regularly at Mystery Mondays, had an afternoon gig at Gruene Hall that we wanted to catch. There's always music at Gruene Hall, it's one of those go-to spots we often visit.

Gruene was a sleepy little village with one of the oldest dance halls in Texas. Gruene Hall has become a big drawing card with a history of many important musicians having played here. This once sleepy little village is now a major tourist destination with a lot of shops, lots of restaurants and lots of music. We've been coming for many years now starting back in the 1990's when there were just a few shops, the Gristmill restaurant and the dance hall. We recall being here many years ago in February when everything was closed -- even the restaurant and the dance hall. These days it's busy every weekend with a huge field commandeered as a parking lot. Even with that parking can be a problem.

We had lunch at the Gristmill which overlooks the Guadalupe River. The restaurant was built on the remains of an old mill and has that rustic, barnboard and exposed brick ambience. The place has expanded over the years and is now quite large. But you can still get a nice spot outside along the river bank to enjoy the day. Servings are Texas sized so you need to be careful not to order too much. A couple of appetizers is enough for a meal!

We then dropped into Gruene Hall to see Bill Kirchen and his band. We recognize David Carrol on standup base (from the regular Mystery Monday band) but not the others. The crowd was mostly our age with some two-stepping to the music.

There is a smallish raised stage at the one end of the dance hall, a dance area about half of the hall, then some rough hewn tables with benches, a smaller area on the floor in front of the bar where the band was playing, and then the bar at the very front of the hall. This is the usual set up for afternoon shows. In the evening the stage is used and the crowds are larger. E.g. we have tickets to see Joe Ely here later this month.

We had our bikes with us and did a ride about town. There's a lot of new homes, bungalows, and development in town. We were quite surprised. I suppose it's an easy commute into San Antonio, quite a long commute to Austin, and I guess some have moved here to retire and be involved with the local scene. Not for us, Gruene has become a bit of Disneyland.

After our bike ride we stopped at "The Grapevine" (a shop with wine tasting) for a glass and bit of music at their outdoor stage. It's nice to soak up the sun when it's there. It's not always so warm this time of year in Texas.

A good start to a full day. That night we hope to see "Two Tons of Steel" at the Broken Spoke..